


Humanity Is at the Brink of Extinction But at Least You're Still Here

by ChickenPoofer



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Keith (Voltron) Has Abandonment Issues, Keith (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) is Missing, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2019-09-17 04:58:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16968111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChickenPoofer/pseuds/ChickenPoofer
Summary: Keith has suffered loss throughout his life. Two of which he never had the chance to get to know and one of which that had affected him more deeply than he realized it did. He isolates himself from the world, under the impression that everyone that he cares about will get hurt and leave him. After years of spending time alone, it's announced that the end of the world is approaching, and so, he returns to society for one last time.But he hadn't expected to bring a boy home.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! I've been wanting to post one of my Voltron related works for forever now but I always try to finish the majority of it before posting (so I don't fall behind in uploading).
> 
> But now that season 8 is right around the corner, I really felt like I had to actually post something for once. 
> 
> So, here it is! It's unedited and not proofread. I wrote these few parts quite a few months ago when I started it but oh well.

Throughout Keith's life, he was clueless about everything that happened around him. So many things happened that left Keith confused but nobody was there to answer the questions he had. The world wasn't going to stop and pause for him to wrap his head around it. It just moved on without him. So, he didn't understand why his mother left him and he didn't understand why his father one day didn't come back from work. There was nobody around him to explain what happened and Keith just had to accept it.

Takashi 'Shiro' Shirogane. When Keith had first met him, it felt like he could get a grasp of reality again. A ray of sunlight after years of rain and thunder and he couldn't be more thankful for that. Shiro had taught him everything he knew; whenever Keith had questions, Shiro would do his best to answer them for him. As unstable as his life was, there was a single constant he could always rely on and that was Shiro, and as time went on, the rest of his thoughts started clearing up as well. 

Things started to make sense again.

Life was good.

Six years ago, when Keith had come back from school, he had waited for Shiro to come back from work. He had promised to watch a TV show together with him and he couldn't wait to get started. Keith had been looking forward to this all week. He glanced at the clock and saw he was running late, but he didn't mind. He'd be home soon enough. Keith had scavenged the house for snacks and drinks and when he had set everything up, he looked at the time again.

Shiro never came home that night. Keith had texted him over and over again before making a report to the police. He felt panic, he was panicking, he was having a panic attack when they told him that after two weeks of searching, there were no signs of Shiro. He didn't know what happened to him and the people at the police station didn't have the answers he needed. The world was again, moving on. Keith's head was troubled and hazy. It left him frustrated. It didn't matter how hard he shouted into the void, it never answered his questions. The feeling of being lost and clueless, he was sick of it.

So, maybe he started answering his own questions.

And maybe things started making sense.

Maybe it just meant that he was supposed to be alone. Everyone around him had already left so, there had to be a reason for that, right? This all happened because of him. It couldn't be a coincidence that everyone he loved had vanished.


	2. The World Is Ending, Haven't You Heard?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooo the first actual chapter.  
> 

_**"Hey, I haven't seen you all day! How have you been faring without me?"** _

 

When Keith woke up this morning, he immediately felt like something was off. Like an uncomfortable feeling inside his gut yelling at him like something was wrong. 

He stood up from his bed and for some reason just felt paranoid as if something was going to jump at him at any second. Quickly, he looked around his room for anything potentially harmful before deciding it was safe. He didn't know how to describe it, he really didn't know. He sighed, maybe he was finally going crazy. It made total sense. He _had_  spent years in isolation. The loneliness may have been getting to him.

He walked to his bathroom and looked in the mirror, he pressed his lips together as he quickly observed his reflection.

Yup. That's Keith alright.  

He saw the usual messy hair, the bags under his dull violet eyes and his overall skinny frame. He breathed out through his nose and looked around for his toothbrush. His bathroom was fairly cluttered, just like the rest of his house, but that didn't mean Keith liked it. He just can never bring himself to clean things up.

He found his toothbrush behind a few empty prescription pill bottles and a sad toilet roll. He squinted in suspicion. He didn't even have a toilet in this particular bathroom.

He prepared breakfast at 8:30 in the morning. Eggs and toast, just like any other day. He had the same breakfast, the same lunch and the same dinner every single day. Other people would get sick of it but despite not having the choice, Keith still preferred the routine. Routine kept him grounded and it made him feel secure. Nothing out of place, nothing out of sight. This gave him control and this made sure he knew everything about his life and the feeling of being clueless was not a part of it. Exactly the way he liked it.

He grabbed his breakfast and sat down in front of the small TV in his living room and turned it on to start off the day. He was sat down lazily on his couch as he was switching between channels before a news report caught his eye and for a second he forgot how to breathe. His heart stopped as the words danced on the screen. 

 

_**"LARGE METEOROID HEADED TOWARDS EARTH"** _

 

It took him a few moments to properly listen to the actual news report. He knew that meteorites hit earth somewhat frequently. Small ones that only cause some damage. But as he listened longer to the woman explaining how this may have a larger impact than the technology on earth can account for, a pit started to form on his stomach. It seemed that the people on the news channel were distressed as well, overlapping voices and whispers were heard behind the camera which was very unprofessional but also understandable.

Quickly, Keith turned off the TV. He was absolutely speechless.

There was no way that was real. Right?

No, it's real.

No, it's not, there is no way that the end of the world was coming. As much as he hated to admit it, there were still some things he wanted to do. There were still so many things he wanted to experience. It couldn't be, he wouldn't allow it to. He didn't know what to do with this information, he just held his face in his hands and shouted out to make some noise. 

He pulled out his phone to look up some more information about this, he needed to know more. He wanted to be sure, oh god if this really was the end of the world he didn't want to die like this. He searched up on Google about the meteoroid that was supposed to hit in 5 days. He was really hoping it was just fake news but article after article, it stated that there was going to be a devastating impact with the earth on North America that'll destroy half the earth and leave the rest engulfed in debris and clouds. It'll lead to the end of most life on earth and surely wipe out all of humanity.

Perhaps this was the time he had to go back to society again, one last time to take in the world. One last time to actually socialize and talk to people. That idea both excited yet terrified him. He hadn't properly talked to anyone in years and the only type of social interaction he really had was through the occasional texts or chats with people on the internet but those were on average 12 words long. It was kind of sad now that he thought about it. He started to feel embarrassed. He had done so little in his life.

And then he started freaking out. He stood up from his seat and left his breakfast behind.

It was time to go to the town right this second.

 

~~~~

 

A jacket, his backpack, and his phone. Those were the things he had to take with him before he went outside. He kept on double checking to make sure he had everything with him because he didn't want to be stuck in a situation outside, away from his home. When he was about to leave, his hand hovered above the door handle. He couldn't bring himself to open the door and actually leave. Keith felt around in his jacket and felt his wallet and his keys, he grabbed the wallet and made sure there was enough money in there. Then he caught himself stalling again.

He was scared to go outside.

He groaned in frustration, 'Come on, just... Go. You can do it, Keith.' he stood there for a few moments which could have been minutes, hours or just seconds but eventually, he opened the door with a sigh.

His eyes were met with the sun shining brightly and almost blinding him. He immediately shielded his eyes from the sun and waited for them to adjust. 'Oh, this is already going great,' he thought to himself. The gust of fresh air was nice, though. He hadn't properly stepped out on his doorstep in a few months, and he only did that because he thought he heard some strange noises outside. But those only turned out to be some stray dogs running around.

He walked towards the entrance of his garage and opened it up. The screeching sound it let out was horrible, the door to his garage - which wasn't really a garage, it was just a part of his shack with a somewhat big space that he used as a garage - hadn't been used since the first day he got here. The hinges were rusted up and were desperately in need of a replacement. When he entered the garage he was met with a cloud of dust and a dark room. He felt around on the wall and when he felt a little switch, he turned on the single light bulb in the room. It was a pretty poor-lit room but it didn't really matter, he rarely used it. 

Keith stepped further into the garage and put his hand on the dusty steer of his old motorcycle. It looked exactly like how he left it six years ago, but dustier. He carefully brought the vehicle outside and took another look at it. 

This used to be Shiro's motorcycle. 

Shiro used to bring him to school every day on this motorcycle when he was younger. He thought it was so cool to arrive at school on a flaming red motorcycle while everyone else had to walk. Later on, Shiro started to suffer from a disease that prevented him from riding it as often until he decided to pass it onto Keith. It was the end of an era and at first, Keith was disappointed and somewhat confused. There weren't gonna be any trips around town on the motorcycle with Shiro anymore, he thought. But Shiro told him things would still be the same, it would just be that Keith would be the one driving them around.

He taught Keith how to use the motorcycle properly and every second of it meant the world to Keith. He could still remember the pure excitement he felt when he successfully drove his first lap around the street. 

But now those memories made him sad.

He forced himself back into the situation at hand, _'God, Keith. Now isn't the time to be reminiscing. It's the end of the world and you haven't had cake in six years. Get your ass moving.'_

He grabbed a cloth from his garage and used it to wipe off all the dust that had been collecting on his motorcycle over all these years. When he was done, he tossed the cloth off the side. The red paint wasn't the same vivid color that he remembered anymore but it was calming to see the old thing again. 

He felt around his pocket for his keys and inserted them. He prayed that it still worked and when he heard the purring on the motorcycle after he turned his keys, he smiled brightly. It felt surreal to have it up and running again. He placed himself on the seat and gave himself a moment to get used to everything again.

And then he left for the town he used to live in back then. He was surprised he hadn't forgotten how to ride a motorcycle and crashed, he was also surprised he still knew the way to the town which was a few miles away from wherever the hell he actually lived. He found himself recognizing buildings and signs here and there and just /knowing/ where to go. There weren't many people on the road other than him so that helped him focus on the way back to town. It wasn't until later that it hit him that he was actually doing this.

...

 

...

 

...

 

_'Oh my god, I'm actually going back.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that's the first bit!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading. It kinda sucks but it gets better (at least I hope). 
> 
> The next chapter will probably get posted on Saturday so... See ya!


	3. What an Awfully Quiet Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 8 was the biggest emotional rollercoaster I've witnessed in forever.  
> I keep on remembering that that was the last season of VLD ever and even though it was a bit 'eh' at times, I'm pretty sad about it ending (and how it ended). I'm glad we still have our fanon though. 
> 
> So, with that said... Let's get on with the new chapter!
> 
> It's a bit short but I hope you all enjoy!

_**"Oh, I was okay. Don't worry about it."**_  
  
When he rode into the town he felt a wave of nostalgia attack him like a swarm of bees. The town was big for what it was, it was smaller than a city but bigger than the average town. He couldn't remember the name of it anymore but that didn't matter. The name of the place wasn't important to him.  
  
He stepped off the motorcycle and took a deep breath in. This was the front of his old school and nothing had changed at all. It had the same old benches that looked like they were about to collapse any second, the same old flags with the same old school logo on it. Same old same old... He was conflicted about it. He was kind of happy that the world didn't move on without him but he felt kind of disappointed to see nothing was new. Nothing new, nothing fresh. He was secretly kind of tired of seeing the same things over and over again.  
  
The building brought back memories, but they were all a bit hazy. School was just a blurry mess in his head. He didn't really have any friends that were worth remembering so, he kind of blocked it all out. It wasn't really that school was a bad thing, it was more so that there were more important things and names he wanted to remember.  
  
So, maybe this was something he'd rather leave in the past. Unnecessary sentiment and unimportant memories weren't welcome in his head. He already had enough on his mind. With his motorcycle in hand, he walked along the sidewalk, further into the town.  
  
Nothing had changed. He was baffled to see everything exactly as he remembered. He saw the café he used to ride past whenever he went to school and there was the same sign saying there was a new item on the menu. How funny.  
  
The streets were really empty, everyone was probably at home with their families. Part of him was kind of hoping to see a familiar face walking around and greet him, the other part of him was praying that he wouldn't encounter anyone he knew. It would lead to an uncomfortable situation he didn't really need right now. He shuddered, even thinking about it made him cringe.  
  
He checked the time on his phone. It was almost 11 am and he had no idea what to do now that he was here. There was nobody he was planning on visiting, nothing he wanted to do in particular. It wasn't even that worth it coming over here, after all. He'd been building this moment up too much. And besides that, he did this all on a whim anyway, that was stupid. But he might as well get a drink on his last days.  
  
A drink in the morning you ask? Well, it's the end of the world, after all; there are no rules.  
  
Keith stood in front of a bar, but not just any bar. He still remembered his first and last visit to a bar at the fresh young age of 16. He was immediately kicked out. Ah, good memories.  
  
He opened the front door and was met with an old and rundown bar. The lights were a warm orange tone and there were surprisingly enough two other people sitting at the bar already. But perhaps it wasn't that shocking, other people probably went out after hearing the news.  
  
Keith took a seat and waited at the bar. He had totally forgotten basic etiquette and anything else regarding socializing but he tried to fit in. The bartender walked over to him, his eyes lifeless. He wasn't intimidating in the sense that he looked like he was gonna attack him, he was intimidating because he looked like he didn't want to be here at all. Like he was bored out of his mind.  
  
The bartender looked at Keith and quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh uh, a beer will do," Keith said. The bartender nodded.  
  
Keith sighed, guess this was the way he was gonna spend his time the first time back in town. Drinking at a bar all alone. He was stupid to expect anything more to happen; the town was big and he didn't even know that many people in the first place.  
  
But he missed them.  
  
He missed Adam, Shiro's former fiancé. He remembered he was really kind to him whenever they met. Though Keith was a little protective over Shiro and may have threatened him a few times, Adam always laughed it off and forgave him for almost stabbing him. He was so thankful for that after he learned that Adam was a good person who meant well. But when Shiro disappeared, Adam was on a business trip. He was supposed to come back home the weekend after but after hearing the news, he came back home immediately.  
  
He was devastated. He was absolutely devastated. He refused to speak for days and was convinced that this wasn't an accident of some sorts like the police had said. Keith wasn't sure what happened to him after that though, he was too busy worrying on his own. But he hoped the got therapy for it and moved on with his life. Adam didn't deserve to suffer anymore from the incident, Keith just wanted him to get the happy ending he deserved. Because in the end, Adam was just a bystander who got hurt in the process.  
  
Keith really wanted to tell him he was sorry.  
  
The bartender set down his drink and Keith quickly scrambled to get his wallet. He paid for his drink and gave the bartender a small smile. Keith took a sip. It was fairly quiet at the bar, there was only the occasional creak of someone shifting on their chair.  
  
That is until the person two seats from Keith broke down crying. The man looked like he didn't have his shit together and came here to drink his problems away. Hoping to forget about them and be at the end of his life with no memories of the past. To be surrounded in bliss right at the very end.  
  
Or maybe that's just what Keith thought he looked like. He was no Sherlock Holmes, what did he know?  
  
He abruptly stood up and left the bar with his glass half full. The atmosphere in the bar became even more uncomfortable. The bartender didn't seem phased at all but the only other person in here was really worried and confused, looking at the empty seat where that man previously sat and then looking at Keith.  
  
Keith shrugged and looked away. He really wanted to leave now but damn, he's going to finish the drink he paid for whether he liked it or not.  
  
He was a bit too determined to drink the rest of his beer but he deserved something nice for himself.  
  
So, he sat there for a while, even after finishing his third drink. He even talked a bit to the bartender! His name is Ryan, he was pretty nice. He didn't talk a lot but he was a great listener. It was a shame Keith didn't have much to say to him.  
  
There was something weird about him though, Keith couldn't figure out what.  
  
Eventually, he looked at the clock.  
  
"Oh, it's 3:25 already..." It took Keith a moment before he scoffed. "If I actually had somewhere to go, I'd be concerned.'' He chuckled a little to himself, feeling awfully sad when he said that but unable to look or sound like how he felt. He tightened his grip on his drink and let out a shaky sigh.  
  
''Welp bottoms up," He said as he put another glass up to his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is gonna be a lot of fun :]
> 
> (And no, there's not gonna be any smut.)


	4. Well Hello There

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is just a liiittlle late coming from my timezone but it's fine.
> 
> This chapter is probably one of my favorites so, enjoy!

_**"So, you weren't lonely?"** _

 

_''Well well well, is that Kogane over there or am I hallucinating?''_

_''...-yan, you didn't t-... me about finding-...''_

_''That's fucked... -ore than tha-...''_

_''...-te it. I'm not drunk enough for_ thi-''

_''...-ust take it and stop being dif-... It'll be good f-...''_

When Keith woke up the next morning, he felt his head throb and pound. He didn't remember anything from yesterday clearly but he knew he went back to town on his motorcycle, walked around a bit and probably went to get a drink. Oh, now he remembered; he went bar hopping and clubbing with old classmates. It was with either old friends or old enemies but he couldn't remember. He just vaguely recalled hanging out with people he used to know from school.

He slowly sat up in his bed while carefully rubbing his eyes. Ugh, he hated hangovers but he usually doesn't drink enough to actually get bad ones. What time was it anyway-

"Hey, sweetheart~"

Fuck.

"Who the fuck?" Keith snapped his head towards the noise and was met with the face of a stranger. A very cute stranger.

Again, what the fuck?

He backed away and almost fell off the edge of the bed. He recalled doing a lot of stupid things last night but he definitely didn't remember bringing someone home, "What- who are you and why are you in my bed?!" He shouted in panic. The stranger looked at Keith with a dazed look and then plopped down to lie back on the bed. He seemed to not pick up on or not care about Keith's panic. He sighed in an over-exaggeratedly dramatic manner and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Aw, baby did you forget my name already? That's a surprise since you were shouting it out quite loudly last night."

Keith's eyes widened and his face turned redder than his t-shirt. Oh hell no, he wasn't stupid enough to have a one night stand when he was like this. None the less, he brought someone to his own home. That's like, the worst thing to do if you don't want to get killed. That, or drinking a glass of milk as someone who's lactose intolerant.

The stranger snorted and closed his eyes lightly, "I hope I didn't scare you too much." A small smile crept up on his mouth and god, Keith really wanted to scream. He quickly stood up from the bed and he regretted it as he was hit by a wave of vertigo. He needed to lean against his dresser in order to not topple over. He took a deep breath.

"I- I'm sorry I'm just gonna go," Keith awkwardly said. He forced out a strained chuckle and hurried out of the room. He slammed the door shut behind him and let out a breath he'd been holding for forever. He put his hands on his knees and shook his head. "God damn it, I'm an idiot what was I thinking, oh my God this is bad Jesus. Did we even use protection? What if I contracted a disease, I don't want an STD but I guess it'll only matter for a few days- oh fuck I guess you're right- wait no, shut it. He's gonna hear me freak out-"

"I can hear you freak out, by the way," he heard the stranger call out from the other side of the door. Keith yelped and ran to the kitchen. 

Right! Breakfast.

He quickly grabbed a pan and oil and uh, right. Eggs-

"Could you make me some breakfast too?!"

"Oh my God, can you stop giving me these heart attacks?!"

 

~~~

 

Keith set down a second plate of food on the coffee table in the living room. Right on time, the stranger entered the room. He smiled at Keith and sat down next to him. They began eating in silence apart from the TV in the background 

"Lance," the stranger spoke up.

Keith quirked an eyebrow at him.

"The name's Lance," he started again. Lance turned his head and looked Keith in the eyes. He seemed to be expecting an answer but Keith didn't know what he wanted from him. When it was clear that Keith wasn't going to say anything, Lance turned back around to play with his food, occasionally stabbing it with his fork. 

"Yesterday you told me it was a nice name."

And then Keith started feeling guilty for forgetting about last night. The somewhat awkward silence in the room only amplifying the sinking feeling in his stomach; it really seemed like Lance was disappointed. As if last night meant something to him. Keith probably shouldn't have drunk as much as he did.

He glanced over at Lance who seemed to be minding his own business.

Or he could have been ignoring Keith but let's just say he wasn't.

Lance really did look good. He didn't need to be intoxicated to tell. His eyes were a captivating blue color that complimented his tan skin which seemed like it had never had any problem with blemishes or impurities. Besides that, he had a nice figure; Keith could appreciate that.

When they both finished eating, Lance didn't stand up to leave. Keith kind of assumed he would leave after breakfast but the man didn't budge. Eventually, Lance caught Keith staring and Keith realized he was staring at him in the first place. He laughed sheepishly, Keith figured now was the best time to ask him. 

"Haha, uh. Sorry if I missed a memo but uh, when are you leaving?" Keith asked. Lance's lips parted a little.

"Oh."

Hurt flashed in his eyes for a split second. Lance fumbled with his own hands, "I'm really sorry but I-... kind of planned to stay here until... Y'know." Lance shook his head and stood up. 

"God, you probably don't want to spend your last days with some guy you don't even remember. I'll go." Lance proceeded to walk away, scolding himself mentally. Keith didn't know why yet but the more distance between him and Lance there was, the more he felt the urge to stop him. When Lance put his hand on the door handle, he walked after him. "Wait! Don't go, please."

Keith's voice trembled as he called out for Lance. The other stopped in his tracks and hesitantly looked at him. Keith felt his heart racing his chest. He had no argument to make the other stay but he just had to try.

"You can stay here, I- I don't mind," Keith blurted out.

Lance seemed surprised, he didn't expect Keith to stop him from leaving. Keith had seemed quite uncomfortable around him this entire time, really. But maybe this was his way of telling him he was wanted here. He softened his expression and glanced at the other, he felt grateful for Keith letting him stay.

On the other hand, Keith was screaming at himself internally.

_'What are you doing why are you letting this dude stay oh my God.'_

Keith tried his best to brush off the panicked voice in his head and relaxed his shoulders. He smiled gently at him. "Hey look, I've had some problems and stress I didn't want to deal with and it led me to here. If you don't want to go back to whatever's gonna ruin your last days on this planet, then feel free to join me in the place that I call home."

For a moment, Lance didn't say anything at all. It made Keith feel like he'd said something stupid and he was about to backpedal until he saw Lance's eyes tear up. He started crying out of relief and ran forward to give Keith a bear hug. The impact knocked the wind out of him and he didn't know what to do with his hands but eventually returned the gesture.

"Thank you," Lance whispered. 

Lance felt cold to the touch. His skin wasn't as warm and comforting as Keith had imagined. Lance's whole personality was so warm and inviting so Keith was taken aback by the coolness of his skin. A part of him made him feel happy to know he could warm him up. Like a weird warmth exchange. It was a little peculiar if you thought about it too much, but it was nice, it made him feel needed.

Keith warmed Lance up and Lance cooled Keith down. They needed each other to balance the other out.

 

~~~

It was about 6 PM and it was already getting somewhat dark outside. Keith hadn't talked much to Lance at all, he didn't know what to say and he didn't know how to act around him. It felt a bit awkward, just... coexisting with someone who you'd apparently hooked up with the night before but, at the time, being too drunk to actually remember anything about it. He didn't really know what to do now that there was a surprise guest here (which was kind of his fault for urging him to stay but we don't talk about that).

Speaking of his surprise guest, he didn't actually know where Lance was.

Lance walked out of the living room about three hours ago so, Keith didn't know what the heck he was doing or where he was. He could've been digging through his bedroom and stealing his wallet for all he knew. But jokes on him, Keith didn't care if he lost his wallet. He wasn't going to need it any time soon. He was getting a bit concerned now that it was getting dark though. Maybe Lance had gotten hurt somehow, and Keith was just sitting here, doing nothing. 

God, what if there was someone in his house, dead on the ground and Keith hadn't done anything to help them. What if Lance was crying out to him for hours but couldn't because he had hurt his throat somehow and he died a very slow death in Keith's own home. The thought made Keith stand up immediately, with his heart beating rapidly. He made himself worry over a stranger. Great job.

He closed his laptop and jogged over to his bedroom, looking around and even under his bed to see any signs of the other male. He indeed saw traces of Lance in his bedroom but not exactly the kind he'd been looking for. 

When he realized he wasn't in his room, he turned around and headed for the bathroom, knocking softly on the door. 

''Um, Lance? Are you in here?'' He asked through the door.

He heard no reply.

Carefully he opened the door, shielding his eyes. What? He didn't know if Lance was the type of guy to not lock the door when taking a shit. He just wanted to be sure.

But of course, he was met with an empty bathroom.

With a sigh, he turned away again and closed the door. Where was that guy? There weren't many places in Keith's house he could've gone to, it's a small place. Unless he, for some reason, decided to sit inside of Keith's closet or garage then he didn't know any other spot Lance could've gone to. Keith walked back to the living room area but as he was walking, he noticed a figure sitting outside his front door.

He facepalmed.

Lance wasn't _inside_ Keith's house, he was outside on the porch.

Keith grabbed his jacket and put it on before going outside. He was met with the cold outside air, giving him goosebumps even with the extra clothing article on.

Lance was sitting on the steps of his porch, softly gazing up at the sky. He was calm and in a peaceful state of mind. He hadn't acknowledged Keith coming out the door. It was nice seeing him like this instead of constantly trying to make Keith flustered by spewing out outrageous things. He smiled to himself before sitting down next to Lance.

''You can see them clearly out here. The stars, I mean,'' Keith said.

Lance let out a noise of amusement and nodded.

''Yeah, you can.''

Keith glanced over at Lance and as if on cue, Lance looked back at Keith. He grinned,

"You live so far away from society that you're not even affected by light pollution. You hermit," he joked.

"Well, it's the benefit of living in the middle of nowhere. That and the lack of annoying people," Keith said.

Lance laughed a little. And then it was quiet. 

"Why do you live all the way out here? On the way here, I didn't see any buildings or signs of life other than the road signs."

Keith shrugged even though he knew the other couldn't see him. He was out here because he had to get away from the chaos in his life six years ago. But he was okay now, he could've moved back and gone back to school just fine. So, why did he stay here?

"I guess... I like it here? It's quiet, y'know?"

"Doesn't it get lonely?"

Keith hesitated, "I don't think so? I kinda like being alone."

Lance gawked, "What? Nobody likes being alone." 

"Well, I do."

Lance rolled his eyes and nudged Keith in the side with his elbow. Keith looked over at Lance and saw him with his hair messy and in front of his eyes. He posed.

"Ugh, I'm Keith. I'm so emo. I hate all people except for Lance 'cause he's so cool and sexy," he said in a bad Keith impression. Keith felt his face turn red and pushed against Lance's shoulder. "God, I'm not emo!" He retorted, fighting back the smile that was creeping up his lips.

Lance slowly and dramatically let himself fall backward onto his back. He let out a cry of distress.

"Oh no, what shall I do now that I've passed out on the cold hard floor? Perhaps I should go to sleep and forget about the amazing night I had with the wonderful Lance whom I've only met yesterday but still am very much attracted to?"

God, did last night turn out like that? He shouldn't even be allowed to go outside if this is how he acts. Keith even used to pride himself about how much of a heavyweight he is but apparently, a day full of drinking took a toll on him.

Lance burst out in a fit of giggles, continuing to spew out ridiculous statements as Keith frantically shook him in a desperate attempt to make him shut up.

"Oh my God, you are so annoying stop it! I do not talk like that!" He whined.

"Alright alright, Mr. Lone Wolf. I'll stop," Lance said with his hands up in a defensive manner. He had a small grin on his face as he apologized.

Keith let out a breath in relief if he would've continued and longer he was sure his head would've exploded in both frustration and embarrassment. Lance was such a tease.

"Now that you're taking me seriously again, why don't you come inside? It's getting cold out and I'm gonna start making dinner soon," Keith said as he stood back up and dusted off his pants. Lance looked up curiously and quirked an eyebrow. His face then turned into a smirk.

"A dinner at your place, out in the middle of nowhere with the vast night sky out there? That sounds like a date to me."

"If you want it to be then sure, it's a date. Just come inside."

"Well, what if I don't want to come in?" He asked in an annoying tone of voice. Keith crossed his arms and shook his head disapprovingly. He rolled his eyes and walked away, stopping right outside the front door.

"Then you better be careful before _they_ come out and bite you in the ass. That is if you don't die of hypothermia."

Lance snorted. "Yeah right, like monsters are gonna come out and try to eat me. I'm not a kid, I don't believe in that stuff anymore." 

"I wasn't talking about monsters."

"What then? Bears? I know they don't live in this area."

"Not bears."

Lance furrowed his eyebrows. What else could he have been talking about? And now it was Keith's turn to smirk.

"What then?" Lance asked.

"Venomous snakes," Keith answered.

"Oh fuck that." Lance's eyes widened and he stood up immediately upon hearing what Keith told him. He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck. Keith opened the door for him and he walked inside without a sound. When they eventually entered the kitchen, he sat down.

"For the record, you and I both know that I am fully capable of fighting off a snake," Lance boasted, as confident as ever. Almost like he hadn't just been embarrassed by his own ignorance only minutes before. Keith hummed in agreement, not really paying attention to what Lance was saying and more so trying to figure out what to make for dinner. There wasn't much left in the fridge, he had forgotten to stock up on food since the delivery service had kind of stopped working as much as of late. Everyone was probably quitting their job now that there wasn't going to be anything to work for anymore but that wasn't his concern. Well, mostly.

"I forgot to ask earlier but, do you have any allergies I need to know of?" He asked, gazing into the fridge. He took out a few items and set them on the counter, sometimes stopping to read the labels on them. 

_'Almond milk without added sugars...?'_

"Uh, I dunno. Almonds and pears kinda leave an itchy feeling in my mouth but it's not like I'm gonna die or anything," Lance answered with a shrug.

Keith promptly tossed away the pack of almond milk he was holding.

 

~~~

 

"Hmm... What's your favorite color?" 

Keith found himself sitting across an upside down Lance. He thinks he's kind of figured out what the next few days would look like. And he was looking forward to spending his time with Lance like this. They'd been sitting in the living room watching TV or looking through their phones. It was a nice, laid-back experience between the two. Nothing too heavy or too mundane. For Keith, this was what he'd do on his own on a regular day. Lance was a chill guy, Keith had picked up on that when they had short conversations or asked each other simple questions. Just like this one.

Keith hummed and thought about his answer. How could you choose? There were so many different colors, it was difficult to decide which ones you like more over the others. Now that he thought about it, everyone had a favorite color. It's one of the most basic things to ask someone and usually, everyone had their own answer. But Keith had never really thought about it.

"Red is mine if you wanted to know," Lance added. Keith looked down and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Why do you like red more than other colors? How do you choose?" Keith asked. Lance pressed his lips together and smiled fondly. 

"To me, red is somewhere between love and hate. It's so easy to interpret it as inviting and warm but also so easy to get the complete opposite of that. Red is passion, but also elegance. It can be the most heroic of colors but it can also represent the one thing heroes try to prevent seeing.

It just gives off some kind of complexity which I like. And besides that, it's a pretty color too."

Keith did not expect that answer.

He didn't think it was possible for someone to give such an intricate answer to the question 'What's your favorite color and why?'. Colors were supposed to be simple and to the point but, that wasn't just simply color theory.

It was much more than that. 

Lance seemed to be able to portray his passion for a simple color in such a way that Keith, a person who had never seen colors as more than just colors, understood how he felt. Keith found it was fascinating. Lance was fascinating.

"So, what's your answer?" Lance asked again.

Oh, right. The question was originally aimed at Keith.

He thought about it. Was there any color he had an emotional connection to? Was there anything special for him? What was Keith's special color? What did he like?

And then he smiled.

"I think I know mine," he said softly. Lance looked at Keith with big curious eyes.

"Well, what is it?"

He paused for a second and grinned.

 

"Blue."

 


	5. Soggy Breakfast

**_"Lonely?"_ **

  
  
The couch was definitely uncomfortable, Keith knew that much. He had slept on the couch to let Lance sleep on the bed. He, for some reason, just wasn't comfortable with sleeping together with someone else even though they've already done something more intimate together. He just didn't like the thought of being so close to someone else for 8 to 9 hours.   
  
The clock in the living room read 5 am. He had woken up too early.   
  
He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and realized his eyes were weirdly wet. He had been crying. Oh right, he had a nightmare. That made sense.   
  
"Hey, are you okay?"   
  
"OH MY GOD-" Keith jumped in surprise to see Lance suddenly right in front of him.   
  
"You scared the shit out of me, oh fuck," Keith uttered as Lance began giggling like crazy. Keith took a deep breath in and stood up from the couch. He waited for Lance to calm down.   
  
"I'm sorry but that was the funniest thing I've seen all day," Lance said.   
  
Keith gave him an incredulous look, "It's like 5  in the morning, I doubt you've seen many funny things today since it's only just started. Also, why are you here? I'm okay with a lot of things but watching me sleep is not one of them."   
  
Lance smiled sadly and then sighed, "You were making a lot of noise and I could hear you from the other room, I got worried so I came to check on you. Besides, if I were to watch someone sleep it'd be someone a lot prettier than you."   
  
Keith snorted, "Well, thanks... I guess. But don't worry about me, I get nightmares a lot," he explained. He didn't. He only got nightmares consecutively once every few months. They came in groups but usually, he just sleeps all the way through with no dreams at all. This meant he was probably gonna get more nightmares this week. Fun.   
  
Why he didn't tell Lance he usually didn't have nightmares? It would've made him worry and honestly, Keith just wanted to let it be. It was his problem and Lance shouldn't try to stick his nose in Keith's business.   
  
And then Lance stretched his arms with a yawn.   
  
"I'm gonna head to bed now, I need my beauty sleep. I may look pretty now but if I don't get enough sleep all this," he pointed to his face, "is gonna be gone."   
  
He waited for Keith to laugh or say something back. He waited for him to come up with a clever response but nothing came. He quickly looked over at the other to see if he had fallen asleep but no, he just nodded slowly, silently agreeing with him. He didn't know if he was supposed to feel offended because his joke got tossed aside or feel sad because Keith looked so tired.   
  
"Hey, are you gonna be okay?" He asked softly.   
  
Keith looked up at Lance, "Yeah yeah, I'll be fine! I just think I won't be able to fall asleep afterward."   
  
Lance frowned a little. That didn't sound good. Even someone as naturally attractive as him needed a healthy amount of sleep. He could tell even in the dark lighting of the room that Keith was tired. He had bags under his eyes, bags that were worse than usual- he really needed to work on those actually. He wanted to help him but he didn't know how. He wasn't an expert on dreams or night terrors.   
  
But damn could he not stand to see Keith suffering from his own dreams.   
  
"One moment," he said before he excused himself. He quickly ran over to the kitchen.   
  
Keith was about to call out to him and stop him but he decided against it. It didn't really have a point, did it? He felt hot and a little sweaty and it was a little uncomfortable with his clothes clinging to his skin. He was definitely going to have to take a morning shower and do the laundry when he gets the chance.   
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Lance came hopping back into the living room. He seemed somewhat excited or giddy about something.   
  
"Here." He handed over a cup of what Keith assumed was tea. It was hot, but not hot enough to make Keith squirm in pain. Keith carefully set the cup down on his lap, still holding it by the handle and he gave Lance a curious look. The brunette looked away and shrugged, "I thought it was a good idea. I would've gotten you a warm glass of milk instead but you only have almond milk? And yeah, I don't touch that stuff," Lance explained. His words were a bit mumbly and he said them fairly quickly so Keith, in his still tired state, could barely understand anything he was saying. He got the basic message though.   
  
He took a sip from the tea. It was sweet. Where did Lance even find tea in his house? Keith was more of a coffee drinker, he didn't usually purchase tea bags because he'd never use them.   
  
Keith propped his legs up so his thighs were hugging his stomach and chest. He could feel the warmth that the cup of tea left behind on his blanket. He felt cozy.   
  
Lance sat down on the other side of the couch.   
  
"You feeling better now?" He asked softly.   
  
"Yeah."   
  
~~~   
  
Both of them had fallen asleep after that. Lance was partially on the couch and partially sprawled over the floor with Keith lying perfectly still on the other side. A warm light invaded the room through the windows, lighting up everything and giving everything an orange hue. There was dust visible in the light, sparkling ever so slightly. It was a beautiful morning.   
  
But it was also winter, which meant that the sun came up a lot later than usual. Keith liked to start the day early; after sunrise during summer, at sunrise during fall and spring and before sunrise. This meant that Keith had woken up way past his schedule. He should've gotten up already and started breakfast.   
  
When he woke up he saw Lance lying beside him. He rolled his eyes and laughed a little to himself; he looked cute. Then he saw that the clock that read 8:20 AM. He felt his heart rate go up. It felt wrong staying in bed this long. It felt like he was doing something bad. He was breaking his own rules of the schedule he made himself. It was stupid, there wasn't anybody to punish him for sleeping in. It wasn't as if he had anything to do, right?   
  
Despite knowing that, he quickly stood up and went to the kitchen. He wanted to catch up to his schedule, his routine. Start over again and pretend it was the right time, he hadn't broken the rules.   
  
There was no time to make his usual breakfast so he had to compensate. But for some reason, he felt immense sorrow as he poured milk into his bowl. What order was cereal supposed to be made in anyway? Milk or cereal first? He shrugged it off. Whatever.   
  
He settled down in his room and sat on the messy bed that Lance left behind. He didn't want to wake him up again after last night. He'd already ruined his sleep once and there was no need of doing it twice. He cringed when he thought back to the exchange they had. He shouldn't have told him, Lance was going to make fun of him now. He as sure of it. He gripped his spoon tighter.

  
Keith didn't know for sure yet, but he wanted Lance gone.

  
Surely, he did. Every time he was near the guy, he felt strange. Lance was just so different from other people, he could laugh with him but also just be honest with him. But at the same time, every second he spent with him didn't feel real. Every time he looked at him there was this aching feeling that couldn’t go away and he couldn’t tell if it hurt or not. Was it that he could be lying to Keith? Was Lance such a disingenuous person that despite the fun they have together, Keith still feels the need to be away from him? If not, then why did talking with him always give Keith a funny feeling. Lance was a puzzle that left Keith stumped and boy, did Keith hate that feeling.   
  
But that didn't mean he hated him as a person.   
  
He sighed as he put away his almost-empty bowl of cereal. He lost his appetite. What was he supposed to do now? He didn't want to ask Lance to stay away from him, but that was what he felt like he needed. He wanted time away from him because he felt like he was being suffocated. Besides, Keith was a loner, he wanted to be alone. That's how it's always been and that's how he wanted to keep it.   
  
He took a glance at the clock. 9:12 AM. He was supposed to be doing laundry.   
  
He kicked back to lie on the bed.   
  
It didn’t matter anyway.   
  
~~~   
  
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Lance asked as he snatched a granola bar from the kitchen cabinet. He took a seat opposite Keith and stared. Keith didn't like being put on the spot; he always ended up saying the wrong thing.   
  
He shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I didn't want to disturb your beauty sleep," he said, using air quotations when saying 'beauty sleep'. It was half the truth, he really didn't want to disturb Lance while he was sleeping. Lance rolled his eyes and then playfully hit Keith's arm.   
  
"Too much sleep isn't good for you either, come on, you should know that."   
  
Keith furrowed his brows.   
  
He didn't know that.   
  
He looked away from Lance out of embarrassment. It wasn't like he was a sleep expert or anything so, how should he know?   
  
After a moment of silence, he risked a small glance at Lance who was looking at him as if he was about to burst out into a fit of giggles. A small bubble of annoyance started forming in Keith's stomach. Every time he saw that face of amusement he knew he'd just said something to embarrass himself and he wished he could just wipe that shit-eating grin off of him.   
  
"You didn't know, did you?" He asked.   
  
"Does it really matter?"   
  
Lance let out an amused squeal. "Oh, don't tell me you're the type to think we can just go through winter sleep like bears."   
  
Keith's nose flared, "No! I'm not an idiot," he retorted. What did this guy take him for? Someone who didn't have a basic education? Well, he supposed he didn't finish high school but this was like, 6th-grade knowledge. He was surely smarter than a 6th grader.   
  
Lance grinned and waved dismissively, "Yeah yeah, sure."   
  
God, this guy was annoying.   
  
Lance took a deep breath and desperately tried to keep himself from grinning.  "I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he said while holding his arms out in front of him protectively.   
  
"But I'm serious about the first bit."   
  
Keith blinked twice.   
  
"Don't worry about waking me up if it's for breakfast or if you just want to talk to me. I can sacrifice a few hours of sleep if it’s for you," Lance said with a soft smile. Keith felt his heart skip a beat when he looked Lance in the eyes and, as stupid as it sounded, the smile he gave him almost made him cry.

But of course, that same smile turned into a smirk which meant that he thought of a terrible comment again because Lance was Lance and he just loved to ruin the moment.   
  
"Wow, you sure do like to keep me up at night, don't you? But what else can I expect from someone like you, especially on day one."  
  
Lance fanned himself with his hand and then proceeded to wink at Keith and he hated that he felt his cheeks heat up. He knew it was coming but god. Lance was such a tease.   
  
It was kind of nice of him though - the first part of his dialogue, not the second one or the wink because those were definitely not appreciated or welcome.

He appreciated Lance's kind words but, not too much, of course. And even if he did, he'd never tell Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were a whole bunch of changes made in this chapter last minute. I wanted the story to be a little more slow-paced than I originally had it be. That /does/ mean that I'll have to do a whole lot of fixing in the next few days but, we'll see how that's gonna work out.
> 
> See ya next week!


	6. A Measurement of Five Feet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a day late! Hoorayyy
> 
> I just needed a bit more time to write this chapter. I had to take the changes in the last chapter for account and yeah;;
> 
> Also, I'm gonna quickly clean up a few of the problems I had with the previous chapters such as the weird spacing in some of the chapters and other things. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

_**"Yeah."** _

 

‘’You’re making dinner tonight.’’

‘’Huh?’’

Lance looked incredulously at Keith who was sitting on the couch, rereading an old book for the fourth time. Keith didn’t look up from his book even though he could feel Lance’s eyes boring into the top of his head. Keith rolled his eyes.

‘’You’re making dinner tonight,’’ he repeated.

Lance frowned a little and whined as he plopped down onto the couch, next to Keith.

‘’Why?’’ He asked. Keith started to feel a little annoyed at the childish behavior Lance was showing. He put a bookmark on the page where he left off and closed his book before setting it on the coffee table in front of him. Did he really need to explain why he wanted Lance to cook dinner or was he just messing with him again?

He pressed his lips together and looked Lance straight in the eyes, trying to hide his annoyance as he explained.

‘’Look, I’m just asking you to make some food. I not only made you breakfast but also dinner yesterday. So, it’s only fair if you do something today,’’ he explained. Lance nodded slowly in defeat. He stood up and backed away, turning around to have his back towards Keith. He laughed a little, leaving Keith confused. What was so funny about this?

Swiftly, he turned back around.

‘’Well, jokes on you, I can’t cook for shit,’’ Lance revealed with a weirdly prideful grin. He almost seemed to be proud of the fact that he couldn’t cook. Keith chuckled. Although it was a stupid sight to see, it was oddly charming. Lance was a very odd person from what Keith gathered in the past 48-ish hours they had known each other.

‘’The best you can get out of me is a sad omelet or two, I’m sorry,’’ Lance joked.

Keith shrugged in response.

‘’If that’s the best you can do then, go ahead. I just want to see you do something for me once,’’ Keith replied.  
Lance’s eyes lit up upon realizing something. He smiled fondly and bent down to be at eye-level with Keith and they were so close that their noses were almost touching.

Keith, on the other hand, was gay panicking all over the place. The almost non-existent space between them was terribly distracting to Keith. He could feel Lance’s breath against his own skin and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his cool. He let out a small strained laugh out of awkwardness and looked away to his side.

‘’Look at you being all bossy.’’ Lance smiled, he gently caressed Keith’s cheek and led his hand to under his jaw and gently guided Keith to look at Lance.

Before Keith could get a grip on the situation, Lance let go. He stood up straight and put his hands on his hips.

‘’We kinda look like an old married couple, don’t you think? I might as well just call you my husband.’’

Keith stiffened.

‘’I mean, not literally. I don’t mean that we look like old people because we don't look old besides your eyebags but, you kind of sound like a typical angry wife who’s annoyed at her terribly ungrateful husband, i.e. me. Granted, you’re not a woman but I don’t really care-’’

While Lance was going off on a tangent, Keith felt like he needed to throw up.

‘’Woah woah woah, you’re looking awfully pale there, buddy. Are you feeling okay?’’ Lance asked him worriedly. Keith stood up. While mumbling a quick ‘sorry’ he pushed Lance aside and ran to the front door.

He was immediately hit with the cold evening air with the first step he took outside. He could hear Lance walking up behind him, which he could’ve expected would happen. Lance was probably worried because who wouldn’t be if their friend(?) suddenly looked pale and ran away. Sadly enough, there was nothing Lance could do to help the situation because right now, he was making things worse by being there.

‘’Lance, please just go away.’’

His voice was shaky. The rush of emotions that he was feeling was overwhelming. He wasn’t angry; he didn’t actually know what he was feeling. The closest descriptor to whatever emotion he felt was fear. A type of nauseating fear he hadn’t felt in such a long time.

‘’Was my joke that bad or…?’’ Lance asked awkwardly with a hesitant laugh. He tried to lighten the mood a little but to no avail.

There was a pause, Keith refused to say anything before Lance finally took the hint and left. When he heard the door shut again Keith let out the breath he had been holding in for the past two minutes and took a hold of the balustrade in front of him. He leaned forwards in order to keep his balance and tried to calm down. His heart was still racing and his head was still woozy, but at least he was alone now. _‘Just take a deep breath and stop thinking about it.’_

He had to stop thinking about it before he’d start regretting every single action he’d taken up to this very moment. He closed his eyes briefly and then looked out in front of him. When he saw the night sky moving rapidly like a time-lapse he knew something was terribly wrong. He could hear the sound of sirens wailing in the back of his head shortly before he noticed the familiar smell of smoke lingering around.

He forced his eyes shut again and shook his head frantically to come back to his senses. What happened just now?

‘’Shit.’’

 

~~~

 

Keith has been sitting outside for about an hour. He was sat down beside the door, thinking. Luckily enough for him, there were no freak hallucinations anymore. It was just him and the outside world. There was something going on in his head again and he didn't have time for it; not now. There were so many things wrong with his head but, he wasn't going to try to deal with that kind of shit when he could die any day now.

He hugged his knees. It was getting really cold outside. He was shivering since he was basically in his underwear if not for the paper-thin t-shirt he was wearing. Should he go back inside? He didn't want to risk having Lance come up to him because he really didn’t want to see him right now. He knew he had some explaining to do but that didn't mean he wanted to. And if there was anything Keith was good at, it was avoiding his problems and postponing the inevitable.

He felt a slight pit form in his stomach as he realized how true that was.

Shiro and Adam knew that he wasn't exactly the best at confrontation. ‘Face your problems like a man’ they'd always say to him. (He usually really loved them but whenever they said that he couldn’t help but get annoyed). If anything, the only sort of confrontation he was good at required a fist and a jaw he could hit with the said fist. He wasn't good at talking or emotions so, he'd fight or run away from his problems. Ignoring or denying whatever was troubling him had been easy enough, most of the time. That is until Shiro disappeared.

He gripped the skin on his legs at the memory, digging into it with his nails. That was the first time that he could recall that punched him in the face with a conflict. It was a wake-up call. A horrible, horrible wake-up call.

When he let go of his legs, the skin he'd been holding was a discolored blue. He grimaced a little. Perhaps he should go inside just for the sake of not freezing to death.

He stood up with a small grunt and hurried inside.

Inside, he was met with an inviting warmth that actually might have been a bit too warm for his tastes. He sighed and closed the door behind him. He probably owed Lance an apology for freaking out like that. He really didn’t mean to overreact but something hadn’t been sitting right with him all week and perhaps it all just violently attacked him in that specific moment.

So, as much as he didn’t want to do it, he had to talk to Lance and explain what happened. He didn’t want to ruin things between the two of them because he really did like Lance.

The only problem he had with him was that he was so… Complicated? Or maybe his feelings towards him were. Or maybe both? Or everything regarding Lance really. Because he didn’t know the guy properly besides the fact that he really liked the color red and that his hair looked amazing even after waking up or that his smile was one of the things that reminded Keith that he was really fucking gay-

But everything he knew about Lance and everything that he liked about him was so superficial. A pretty pair of eyes, a pretty smile, and pretty hair.

Did Keith want him to be more than just a pretty face, living under his roof?

No.

He was fine with what they had because he wasn’t planning on growing attached to him any time soon.

He walked into the living room and was immediately met with a waft of an eggy food smell. 

''He didn't,'' he softly said to himself in disbelief as he turned to the kitchen area to indeed see Lance, cooking an omelet. 

Keith smiled a little as he slowly shook his head. Lance cocked his head up like a dog hearing their owner had just returned home. Lance turned around to greet Keith with a smile and a wave and Keith couldn't believe the dork who was living in his house right now.


	7. The Storyteller

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for missing last week's update. I had a bunch of tests coming up and I didn't have the time to finish another chapter. I still have four more tests on Monday and Tuesday but I had to get something done this weekend.
> 
> It's a day late but I still hope you'll enjoy it!

**_‘’Sometimes I worry about you, y’know? I’m absent a lot and_ ** **_�̖̤͍̘̮̺̯͚̽̽̅̃̊͞�̟̘̠͗͞͞�̭͙̬̙͇͚̳͚̼̀̉̆̅͂̓̑͟͞͝͡�̮͓̲̅̇ doesn’t really have the time to visit either.’’_ **

 

‘’Hey, uh. About earlier,’’ Keith started hesitantly. Lance promptly put down his fork and shushed Keith loudly.

‘’Nope! I don’t want to hear it,’’ he said. He’d raised his index finger and pointed at Keith. ‘’You don’t have to explain, apologize or whatever- I don’t care. It’s fine. I’m a little confused and perhaps even hurt by what you said but there’s probably something going on with you that I won’t understand or can help you with.

So please, let’s just leave it.’’

Lance dropped his posture and leaned back into his chair. He sighed and turned away, unable to look Keith in the eyes anymore.

That was intense, to say the least. But Keith had been given the option to keep his secrets to himself and there was no way in hell that he was going to pass that opportunity up. He nodded and kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t sure if Lance was even able to see him nodding in compliance but the mood read as such.

They finished dinner in silence and continued to sit at the table afterward. Neither of them knew if it was appropriate to leave and frankly, Lance was beginning to regret his dialogue. He was worried if he’d made Keith uncomfortable or feel guilty but that was the last thing he wanted to do. Yes, it had been a little much but it wasn’t extreme or mean. He’d been very careful not to be mean or come over as angry.

Lance peeked over at Keith who had an unreadable expression on his face. It wasn’t necessarily an angry look but it seemed to somewhat negative.

‘’Lance, what are you doing?’’ Keith asked as he noticed the other glancing over to him. Lance shrugged.

Okay, this was enough, Keith thought. Lance looked really awkward and he didn’t want him to.

‘’Look, I’ve been thinking and I just want to thank you for being patient when it comes to my uh… situation,’’ Keith said, partially because he felt obligated to and partially because he truly felt like Lance deserved to know that he was thankful for his words; it saved him a lot of anxiety.

Lance suddenly let out the loudest sigh.

‘’Oh my god, you don’t know how much that relieves me. I was so worried you were gonna hate me,’’ Lance admitted. Keith raised an eyebrow.

‘’What? I could never hate you for telling me not to talk about my feelings, seriously,’’ Keith said with a smile. And although it sounded sarcastic, he meant every word of it. Keith was a little bit of a coward because he couldn’t help running away from being vulnerable and opening up to people like the little emotionally constipated shit he was.

Lance laughed a little with a fond smile. Subconsciously, he was playing with the fork in his hand until he eventually took a deep breath. Oh god, here we go again.

Keith braced himself.

‘’Keith, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, okay? I don’t know what I did back there but if I do it again, just tell me,’’ he said. Huh, that wasn’t so bad. Keith could feel a small bubble of warmth form in his chest. Was it gratitude that he was feeling? All in all, he felt good hearing all that. Lance was kind and understanding. He nodded.

‘’I’ll keep that in mind,’’ he said.

Lance’s expression was troubled. He seemed to be bothered by something. When Lance was quiet for what Keith was too long of a time to take to reply, he decided to speak up.

‘’Hey man, are you okay?’’ Keith asked.

Lance looked up with wide eyes. He relaxed his shoulders a bit and shrugged.

‘’Oh yeah, I was just thinking.’’

Keith grinned a little, ‘’Thinking? Woah, that’s strange.’’

Lance snorted which put Keith a little more at ease. He didn’t want Lance to be sad.

‘’Shut up, mullet.’’

He sat up straight and looked Keith in the eyes. He had pressed his lips together in a way that seemed like he didn’t know how to or what to say. Because he simply didn’t.

Eventually, he gave in.

‘’Wanna hear my life story?’’ he asked.

‘’Sure.’’

‘’If that’s the case,’’ he started. Lance stood up and offered Keith a hand. ‘’I say we move to the couch because it’s a _long_ story.’’

 

~~~~

 

‘’Alright! You ready to hear my sob story?’’ He asked in a strangely chipper tone.

Keith and Lance were sitting on the couch in the living room, across from each other. Lance had propped his legs up and made himself as comfortable as possible with a blanket laid over him and a pillow sitting snugly beside him. Keith let out a breath through his nose and nodded.

‘’I’m ready.’’

Lance closed his eyes for a second, seemingly to recollect himself and or his memories.

‘’So, I have family problems and stuff. I mean, that’s why I’m here in the first place. As for the details... I guess it’s time for me to ‘expose myself’ I guess.

‘’A few days after my 17th birthday, I beat the shit out of some asshole at my school. News had gone out that I was bi, big deal.’’ Lance rolled his eyes at the last part but before he continued his story, he hesitated.

‘’Anyway, I-... I didn’t realize what I’d done until later. I was so caught up in just punching and kicking this kid that I never stopped to see the damage.’’

Lance paused for another moment.

Keith could definitely relate to him. Hell, he probably would’ve done the same thing when he was a kid if it wasn’t for Shiro teaching him to stay calm during moments like that. Keith was an angry kid growing up. He had always thought of ways to hurt people and was tempted to do them but never acted on those feelings.

Lance looked at Keith with cloudy eyes that read nothing but regret.

‘’He had to get rushed to the hospital, man. I almost killed a guy because I was angry.’’

‘’He was a dick though,’’ Keith added.

‘’He didn’t deserve to get three fractured ribs, two broken fingers and a severe concussion, Keith. There was internal bleeding in his goddamn head, don’t you know how fucked up that is?’’ Lance wrapped his arms around himself and breathed slowly.

‘’I was on the point of gouging his eyes out, I swear to god. If that had happened, I wouldn’t even be able to look at myself in the mirror. I don’t know what was up with me that day, I was so riled up.

‘’When my parents heard the news, they were shocked, to say the least. My mom was so disappointed and-... scared of me. I got expelled from school not too long after and I think everything just went to shit right there. There were so many days where I didn’t want to get out of bed or eat because I was ashamed of myself. My parents were worried but angry at the same time but I couldn’t get myself to face them.

‘’Eventually, I got over it. Or at least, I stopped thinking about it. I went out a lot more and woohoo, underage drinking. Sleeping was definitely out of the question Also, I took my dad’s car out very often and speeding and there was a lot of fighting with random people and sex- oh god, there was a lot of sex.’’ Keith felt his cheeks heat up a little and Lance looked away and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. Keith was a little surprised when he told him that. Yes, they may have met at a club or a bar or whatever (he still didn’t know) but he never expected Lance to have ever acted like this. He must’ve really turned his life around.

‘’If you don’t mind me asking, why did you…?’’ Keith’s voice trailed off, worried that he might strike a nerve.

Lance thought for a moment.

‘’I… Don’t know how to describe it. Perhaps I wanted to distract myself. I just felt restless or that I should do these things as if I was gonna die the very next day— which is kind of ironic because of our current situation,’’ Lance explained. He laughed a little to himself to lighten the mood a bit but Keith didn’t know how to respond.

Lance quickly continued.

‘’Um yeah, so… This lifestyle continued on for a while and luckily enough, it never went too much out of hand. Maybe? I don’t remember exactly, it probably has but, not as bad as this.

‘’When I look back at it, I think it was the alcohol that caused me to behave like this. Like, I don’t know for sure but it does explain how crazy I acted all the time. I guess I’m an angry drunk. But one time I uh… I attacked my mom- or I threatened my mom with an uh… empty bottle that I’d broken.’’

Lance was looked down into his lap, silent. Well, shit.

Keith reached out to Lance and put his arm on his shoulder in a comforting manner. He furrowed his brows a little and whispered, ‘’You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to.’’

Lance shook his head and shifted his position to lie closer to Keith. Without thinking twice, Keith put his arm around Lance and was once again, surprised at how cold Lance’s skin was to the touch.

‘’Yeah, no... That definitely wasn't my proudest moment. My family was scared of me after that day and for some godforsaken reason, I didn’t apologize. Thought they were overreacting.’’ He let out a humorless laugh.

‘’It didn’t take me too long before I came back to my senses. When my sister Veronica came up to me during dinner and called me a crazy psychopath, it just all dawned upon me. Nobody disagreed with her and it was the worst feeling in the world to have someone who you look up to your entire life just call you crazy.

‘’They didn’t want me around anymore. My family hated me. And as someone who grew up in a large family, they were all I knew. I was angry and yelled at them and left, but not before breaking some plates. I was an angry person and pretty much homeless at this point so, I crashed at a friend’s place who later on couldn’t take it anymore and forced me to move out to a different friend’s place which worked out pretty well. I stayed there for a while.

‘’That is until the news came out with this entire ordeal. They wanted to stay with their family and I was on my own in their apartment, one thing led to another and now we’re here.’’

It was quiet for a while.

Lance rested his head on Keith’s shoulder.

‘’Am I a bad person?’’ he asked softly.

Keith shook his head.

‘’No, I don’t think so.’’

‘’Why?’’

Keith turned his head to look at Lance. He used to think he was just a tease with annoying habits but knowing his backstory and the way he’s treated Keith so far he knew that he wasn’t a bad person.

It was a little hard to believe that the person that he described was the same Lance he knew now. But, in a way, that Lance wasn’t the same person he knew now. Because people change and he regretted the things he’d done in the past. Yes, the things he’d done weren’t good and they weren’t justified by any means but, he knew Lance would never want to hurt someone.

‘’...Do you really think that?’’

Wait.

‘’Did I just say that out loud?’’ Keith asked.

‘’I don’t know, did you?’’ Lance retorted cheekily.

Keith rolled his eyes.

‘’Then yes, I do think that you’re a good person,’’ he answered.

Lance smiled sadly and wiped his eyes with the hem of his tank top. He shook his head a little and looked away from Keith because he didn’t want him to see him like this with red eyes and tears falling from his eyes.

‘’I don’t know why I’m crying. That was really kind of you, I just-

‘’Thank you, Keith. I mean it.’’


	8. Goodnight, my Prince

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the hiatus! I was quite busy with things like school, art, etc. and I had to rewrite some of the chapter over and over again since they didn't flow nicely.  
> I'll do my best to not let this happen again but, no promises. And, feel free to comment your thoughts on this chapter! 
> 
> Enjoy :D

**_“Well, I'm fine.”_ **

 

“Shit, Lance. Where are you?”

It was dark and Keith could barely make out the room he was in. He'd just woken up, he concluded. He was lying on his bed in the middle of the night with the sheets kicked off the bed. He was alone and he didn't want to be.

He stood up in a hurry and rushed out the door of his bedroom. He looked to his left where the living room was and headed to the couch. He could see the silhouette of someone there but due to the lack of light, he couldn't tell whether he was asleep or not. He reached out a hand and hesitated.

 _“What am I doing?”_ he thought. There was little to no reason for him to disturb Lance yet there he was, about to wake him up.

_"Don't worry about waking me up if it's for breakfast or if you just want to talk to me. I can sacrifice a few hours of sleep if it’s for you,”_

“Ah, fuck it,” he mumbled under his breath.

He carefully stepped forward, still not wanting to make too much noise. When he stood above the figure on the couch he gently tapped him on the shoulder. His hesitation started to build up the longer it took for Lance to respond. There was nothing. Not even a stir. He extended his arm again and nudged him again, this time with a little more force.

“Lance?” he whispered.

There was no response again.

He started to feel anxious. He didn't take Lance as a heavy sleeper since he woke up the night before because of Keith.

Keith, who was in the other room.

“Come on man, wake up. You said you'd be there,” Keith tried. He didn’t want to become dependent on Lance since he had been alone so far. He could make it another day without company or help. The dry feeling in the back of his throat increased as he took a step away from Lance. He’d apologize later if he disturbed his sleep but for now, he was done.

What was he thinking anyway?

He made his way to the bathroom to take a shower and wash off the layer of sweat sticking to his body. It was time to clear his head from the endless amounts of thoughts rushing in and out.

His hand reached out to the bathroom door when a voice called from the back of the room.

‘’Keith?’’

‘’Yeah?’’ Keith immediately responded. The words just formed right as he heard Lance’s voice echo through the room; almost like a reflex. Lance’s voice made him completely forget about his own anxieties and replace them with other kinds of worries. He must have woken him up on accident. He took a step back and looked over to the couch, waiting for Lance to say something again.

‘’Can you help me for a second? It’s really hot in here.’’

Keith raised an eyebrow. He actually thought it was kind of cold since it was winter and his heater was only partially working. He shrugged it off anyway and answered, ‘’Oh yeah, sure. I can get you some water if you’d like.’’

Lance hummed lightly which was Keith’s cue to go to the kitchen. It was the least he could do after last night.

Eventually, he returned to the living room with a glass of cold water in his hands. He swirled around the beverage in the cup and looked around for Lance who wasn’t on the couch anymore.

Weird.

There was a blanket kicked off the couch and abandoned on the floor. Keith looked up. ‘’Lance, where are you? Are you okay?’’ he called out. When no one answered he could feel the dreadful loneliness creep up to him. The imprint of Lance’s silhouette on the couch only made him feel like something was missing and the only thing left of it was the ghost of something that he had gotten so used to.

‘’Hey man, if you don’t show up I’m going back to bed,’’ he bluffed. He would never be able to go back to sleep like this. If it weren’t for the nightmares, Lance’s little magic trick was going to keep him awake until dawn.

He flinched.

The sound of something dropping to the floor rang in his ears. Something light and small or more likely, multiple tiny things crashing to the ground. The sound starkly contrasted the silence from before.

‘’What did you just do?’’ Keith asked slightly irritated, knowing he’d have to clean something up later.

‘’Sorry, I went to the bathroom and I couldn’t help but notice these. I used to take these too but, they made me really quiet. I hated it.’’

Keith felt a jolt of anger course through his veins. He knew what Lance was talking about and he felt embarrassed and violated. It made him angry knowing that Lance was looking through his stuff without permission. He put the glass of water away and took a step towards the hallway, knowing that Lance was there but not being able to see him due to the dark. But, before he could do anything irrational, he stopped himself. He didn’t want to hurt Lance even though what he did was wrong.

He took a deep breath and calmed himself down, wanting to let the anger pass. He felt like he was fooling himself since he could tell it wasn’t working. He lightly closed his eyes and took another breath.

And another.

And another.

Until he found himself coughing hysterically.

The horrid smell of smoke and tar entered his nostrils which were enough to make him open his eyes in panic. There was a blazing fire in front of him and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from it.

‘’Lance?!’’ he shouted out. He slowly maneuvered through his house, making sure to stay clear from the flames which was proven to be difficult since they kept on growing and inching closer to him. Everything was ablaze and the ceiling was giving out. He had to find Lance and get out but he couldn’t focus on anything. His head was cloudy and the noises of the crackling fire were overloading his brain.

‘’Lance! Answer me, we need to get out!’’

Keith stood in an almost perfect circle of fire, making him feel claustrophobic. There was only a few holes in it and he had to move out of it now before he was completely trapped. His body wanted to freeze up like a deer in headlights but he forced himself to run through. And he didn’t know if it was his own head playing with him but, it almost seemed like the flames were chasing him at the point.

He fled and he made his way through the hallway in an almost clear path to the door leading to the garage. He didn’t know why but he had a nagging feeling that Lance was there. There was no reasoning behind it but he just knew.

He quickly tried opening the door but had his hand shoot back in pain. The handle was scorching hot and he was sure he had just gotten himself a second-degree burn. He banged the door with his fist and screamed, begging Lance to let him in. He felt himself become short of breath and light headed due to the air around him being full of carbon monoxide. He was scared; he didn’t want to die. Even if he had experienced days where he fantasized about a world where he had never been born, he didn’t want to die like this.

Lance was nowhere to be found and he was trapped in his own house that had caught fire. His breath hitched as he could feel his eyelids becoming heavier by the second. His senses started to tune out and the last thing he could process was a cry for help.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

Cold.

It felt freezing cold.

Was this what death felt like?

He hesitantly opened his eyes one by one. He was met with the ceiling of his hallway which wasn’t on fire. He promptly sat up and looked around.

The fire was gone.

The damage wasn’t though. There were ashes and debris everywhere and he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to restore his house after this. He was confused and deeply worried. He didn’t know what was going on anymore. There was a fire consuming everything in his house just seconds ago and now it was all gone. And most shockingly of all, he was fine.

He and…

‘’Lance.’’

He got up on his feet and reached out for the door handle (that was a normal temperature this time) again. He opened it and turned on the light.

‘’Are you there?’’ he asked.

His eyes roamed the room for a few seconds before he noticed Lance standing in the corner with his arms wrapped around himself and his head turned down. Keith could tell he was hurt with the was he was clutching his side. Quickly, he made his way over.

‘’Lance, finally. I couldn’t find you and I was so worried,’’ he blurted out.

Lance didn’t respond. He didn’t even look up.

‘’Are you okay? I can try to patch you up if you come with me.’’

Keith’s heart was pounding loudly in his chest. Was there something wrong with him? This wasn’t normal and quite frankly, it was scaring him.

Slowly, Lance looked up at Keith with a wide smile.

Why was he smiling? He was just caught in the middle of a house fire.

The smile was uncanny; it was far too wide and almost twisted in a way a human’s mouth wouldn’t be able to contort. Keith backed away out of discomfort and fear. There was something terribly wrong here.

Before he knew it. It was gone.

Not only the smile but Lance himself as well.

Keith’s head started to spin.

This was a nightmare, a hallucination, anything. It wasn’t real.

Tears started to stain his cheeks as the distress started to get to him.

He wanted something real, something he could grasp. But why did his head always refuse to listen and play with his sanity all the time?

‘’Fuck. Wake up wake up wake up,’’ he mumbled to himself. He desperately tried to ignore the shadows that had started to dance and the voices whispering in the background. He kneeled down onto the ground, clutched his ears and shut his eyes.

‘’FUCKING WAKE UP!’’

 

~~~

 

Ceiling.

Blanket.

Couch.

Window.

Two heartbeats.

He was in the living room on the couch together with Lance.

He let out a deep breath as he recalled falling asleep and saying goodnight to Lance on the couch the previous night. This was real. Their arms were wrapped around each other and there was a blanket in-between them, they were keeping each other warm throughout the night.

He couldn’t recall what his dream was about anymore and he was glad. His head was too hazy for him to remember the exact events except for the faint and haunting scream of a familiar voice that played in the back of his head.

When he was fully back on earth, he could feel the breath of someone else on his chest. Lance was lying on top of Keith but from the looks of it, he wasn't asleep.

Keith mentally cursed.

“... Lance? Are you awake?” he whispered. Lance nodded.

‘’You had another nightmare, didn’t you?’’ he asked. The silence that followed confirmed Lance's suspicions.

‘’Don’t worry about it though. I’m fine.’’ he shifted his position a bit so he was sitting up. He got ahold of Lance's hand and gripped it gently to indicate that he was fine.

Lance shook Keith’s hand off his and used it to dry the tears on Keith’s face. He hadn’t even noticed but he had been crying in his sleep. Keith felt a pit form in his stomach and a slight sense of deja vu.

He pushed Lance’s hand off his face and looked away.

‘’Leave it. I’m fine.’’

There was no need for that unnecessary worry.


	9. Dressing Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who've been keeping up with this story previously:
> 
> Sorry for not updating! It might take a while in between chapters but I'm definitely not planning on full-on dropping this story.

**_‘’You’re sure?’’_ **

 

Keith woke up again to the sound and smell of burnt toast. And no, he wasn’t having a stroke; it seemed like someone was cooking something in the kitchen (and perhaps trying to burn the house down — which made Keith very anxious). At this point, he could vaguely recall some of the key points of his nightmare. And it looked like Keith had managed to fall back asleep after last night’s events. He was surprised that he had gotten two nightmares in the past week without staying awake for the rest of the night alone with his own thoughts. Ha. Keith 2, nightmares 0.

Let’s just hope he didn’t jinx himself.

He heard a yelp coming from the kitchen. He swiftly got up on his feet and speed walked to the kitchen to check up on who he assumed was Lance. Just in case he might actually end up burning the house down. Keith definitely didn’t have the mental stability n’or patience to deal with an actual house fire. Especially after last night.

He pushed open the kitchen door and before he could properly take a look at what was happening in front of him, he said, ‘’Whatever you’re doing, please stop.’’

He suddenly was hit by an overwhelming smell of burned food and almost gagged. Lance was standing there like a kid with his hand stuck in the cookie jar. He had an apron tied around his body that read: ‘kiss the cook’ even though Keith couldn’t recall ever owning anything like that.

In a panic, Lance turned off the gas and hid the clearly burned food behind his back.

‘’Oh h-hey! Keith! I didn’t see you there,’’ he stuttered. Keith found the sight both hilarious and endearing. He hadn’t expected to see Lance like this. He crossed his arms and shook his head jokingly while trying to hold back a smile.

‘’Lance, what do you think you’re doing?’’

‘’I-’’ Lance looked around frantically, his eyes darting from place to place. He sighed in defeat and slumped away from the stove, revealing the true mess he had made. There was egg all over the burners and the contents of the frying pan were a closer resemblance to the result of a chemical warfare than breakfast. Yikes. That definitely wasn’t edible.

It was kind of sweet, figuratively. It probably tasted like ass but the gesture was kind of sweet. He meant well. Probably. If he wasn’t trying to poison him, that is. What if he actually was trying to poison Keith though?

‘’You were trying to make breakfast, weren’t you?’’ Keith asked. Lance nodded with his head held down.

‘’It didn’t work out, did it?’’ Lance shook his head.

Keith sighed and scratched the back of his neck.

‘’Well, I can’t really get mad at you since I _did_ ask you to cook more often. I just didn’t know it’d result in… this.’’ He gestured toward the mess in the kitchen. Lance mumbled a small apology and gave Keith a sheepish smile.

Keith felt a pit form in his stomach and forced himself to look away.

‘’We’ll-... I’ll figure it out later. I don’t really feel like breakfast so, help yourself.’’ Keith turned around and left the kitchen in an almost abrupt manner. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lance flinching in surprise. He could hear footsteps scurrying toward him as he walked back to the living room.

‘’Wait!’’ Lance said as he put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. Keith immediately shoved Lance’s hand off as a reflex and backed away. He didn’t want to be touched and especially not by Lance. But, when he saw Lance’s deep blue eyes, hurt by his actions, he felt bad. He groaned at himself. Good job, Keith. Lance hesitated and eventually backed off. ‘’Sorry, nevermind. I’ll leave you alone,’’ he said. The small nagging feeling of guilt started to grow again but, instead of apologizing, Keith scoffed and walked off.

He panicked slightly. He felt like an asshole. But he couldn’t bear to look at Lance’s face anymore and he had to leave before things could get worse. Every time he looked at his face he was met with the haunting image he’d seen in his nightmares. He hated that Lance had such an impact on his emotions.

He went back to his room and lazily looked around in his closet. He put on a pair of jeans and a different black t-shirt (he owned many) and threw his other t-shirt in the laundry bin.

He walked over to the mirror and noticed the shirt was a bit big for him. The material was baggy on his skinny frame and the amount of excess cloth around his arms was slightly alarming. And it wasn’t like he’d lost that much weight. Maybe a little, yes. But this shirt was always too big on him. Because

this

shirt

wasn’t

his.

**_‘’What do you think you’re doing?’’_ **

The shirt started to burn his skin and he immediately pulled it off and threw it back in the closet. A rush of anxiety coursed through his body as he realized what he had done and he forcefully shut his closet door. He let out a deep sigh and ran his hands through his hair multiple times in order to calm himself down. He sat down on the floor with his back against his bedpost.

‘’I’m sorry.’’

 

~~~

 

Stale bread and cold soup. He felt like he was in prison. He was sat across Lance while having lunch and both parties refused to talk to each other. Why did Keith even choose to sit with Lance during meals? He could barely handle being in the same room with him. Suddenly, he felt Lance’s gaze on him and he nervously started to toy with his food, trying to ignore the staring. Sometimes he felt like Lance could read his thoughts which made him incredibly uncomfortable.

‘’Keith.’’

Shit.

‘’Yeah?’’  
  
"Why do you hate me so much?"  
  
"What?" Keith immediately retorted.  
  
Lance closed his eyes and slowly repeated his words as if Keith was a child who had failed to listen to his parents.  
  
"I asked, why do you hate me so much?"  
  
Keith gawked. Why did Lance suddenly come to the conclusion that he hated him? Where did this come from? Sure, Keith found him annoying and sometimes he thinks there’s something off about him but Lance shouldn’t know about that. The conversation took a turn and Keith didn't like it. He wanted out.  
  
He stood up and backed away from Lance.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, I've never said anything like that."  
  
He felt hot, was it hot in here? He didn't know a normal functioning human could sweat so much in such a short amount of time. Lance was making him more and more nervous as time went on. His hands started to get clammy and he started fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

Fear.  
  
"Look," Lance started. He stood up from his seat as well and leaned on the table with his right hand. At this point, he was towering above Keith in a slightly intimidating fashion. "Save the excuses, you're making yourself look even worse by doing this.

  
‘’I crashed into your house uninvited and stayed here like a freeloader. I fucked up your kitchen and you still feel forced to be nice to me. I’m bothersome and I know that. So stop lying to me and tell me what you really feel,’’ Lance tried his best to look Keith in the eyes without showing weakness but, the subtle glisten in his eyes gave away how sad he really felt.  
  
"Okay,  _where_ did this sudden change in personality come from?" Keith asked Lance, throwing his hands up in frustration. Lance paused.  
  
It felt like an eternity went by with Lance just staring at him. He looked so shocked with his widened eyes that seemed like they were gonna fall out of his eye sockets any second now. Keith didn't dare to break the silence. No, he was too scared to. And usually, by now Lance would've bounced back or let it be but he was still agitated. God, he screwed up big time, didn't he?  
  
Lance seemed like he wanted to say something but couldn't get the right words to say. None of them actually went past his mouth, forever remaining as mere thoughts that were cooked up on this moment of anger. Keith didn't know what to do with this. When it was established that neither of them was going to say anything malicious back to the other, Keith sighed.  
  
Lance looked defeated. The look of anger was gone, but not totally. There was still a hint of anger and or hurt left in his gaze but it was all camouflaged and hidden behind the overwhelming amount of regret he emanated. He relaxed and slumped forwards, giving up on trying to say anything else.  
  
Keith walked away in silence, leaving him alone in the kitchen. If Lance refused to explain or apologize then he might as well just go away.


End file.
